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Wednesday, 18 September 2013

Why does an unplanned bloggy break make you feel like you have to apologise and make excuses, like you are the driver of some overdue bus, or a child who has failed to hand in the homework?

Anyhow, I'm going to resist the temptation to do either and just plough on with a whistlestop tour of the last, er, um, six weeks, via the photos on my camera.

First up was the White Dove Collectors Transport Show, which we went to for the first time. It raises money for our local hospice and was a great excursion on the way to a Sunday pub lunch to celebrate family birthdays. There was a huge range of vehicles, all sitting polished and pampered in the August sunshine for all to enjoy.

We used to have an MG Magnette a bit like this when I was small (ours was only the paler shade of green though). My brother and I felt very nostalgic looking at its beautiful walnut dashboard and battered leather seats, remembering the time he and his friend Phillip were playing in ours and let the handbrake off, resulting in it rolling down our sloping drive into the middle of the road!

We also had one of these, a Renault 10.You know you're getting on when several of the cars you remember from your childhood are featured at vintage car rallies!

My brother and I had a Morris Traveller - it was his first, then he sold it to me, allowing me to get to my final teaching practice much more easily than on public transport. I called it Bellamy, after David Bellamy, on account of its outstanding services to wildlife (the moss and mushrooms in the boot!) We both loved it, but when its trunion went and I found myself bumping along a country lane singing 'Three wheels on my wagon, and I'm still rolling along...' I lost confidence in it, in spite of its retro charm, and off it went to be sold!

Mr U-t-B's Mum used to have an Isetta. How cute are they?

This little beauty was for sale. A snip at £12000!

Can't help but feel I would love cruising along in what must feel like a motorised sofa!

Then there were all sorts of desirables.

Next, according to the photographic record, was a week and a bit in France. Miss U-t-B brought two friends along. Shame we didn't take along an adjudicator from Guinness World Records, as it seemed the three of them were on an all-out attempt at the longest giggle-and-chatter fest!

Occasionally they paused for breath and read...

Derek the donkey and his companion Vanille were there. A friend who has horses looked at the photos and says that she thinks there may be the patter of small hooves soon!

Mostly it was just relaxing in the sunshine!

Upon our return, Miss U-t-B got her GCSE results!Cue one very happy girl and two very proud parents - all at A and A* grade!

Then I got stuck into some serious preparations for a party. 'Tea and Cocktails' to celebrate my half century!!!(We'll try to overlook the fact that we completely forgot to make even a single cup of tea. I think the innocent looking 'milkshake' and 'lolly' cocktails may have been a bit stronger than anticipated!)

Retro sweet went down well, especially the sherbet fountains!

The sun shone and I had a lovely time with family and friends.

(Just in case you're wondering, this was NOT a lolly cocktail!)

Since then, it's been the start of a new term and a new educational establishment for Miss U-t-B and me trying to get back into my stride with sewing, teaching and life in general!

Me and my blog

Hello - I'm Alix, often to be found in a rather chaotic workroom surrounded by salvaged textiles, Liberty fabrics and a tangle of embroidery floss, creating things that make me smile. When not stitching, I enjoy baking and eating cake, cooking epic Sunday roasts to share with family and friends and hunting for treasure in unlikely places. Home is a wedge-shaped end-of-terrace in Hampshire, England, which I share with the long-suffering Mr U-t-B and our seventeen year old daughter, Ellen.